Constellations
by vitruvian-woman
Summary: Memories of a short-lived and not completely chaste relationship. Femslash.


**Um, yeah, so my first femslash fic. Feels good, man. But I just realized that I write way too much about Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie. Whatever.**

**I can has review?**

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Her beautiful face,_ they say, _marred. Tainted unholy. Her face is covered with dirty spots._

But she doesn't think so. The constellations make her look cheeky, cute, unique. They, her family, don't listen to her, and they shun her. She falls, falls, falls into her new life wrapped in crime and crave and very little caution.

_She_ also likes the constellations, laced over Rumpleteazer's face, making an intricate web of dot-to-dots that you can only connect if you're close enough for kissing. They match the bright orange, the bright yellow, the bright personality.

_N_

"Rumpleteazer, you're not going out like that, are you?" Bombalurina said from her perch on the TSE 1.

Rumpleteazer stopped mid-step and looked at Bombalurina with a surprised expression on her face, enhancing her features. "Well, I'm only going thieving." She said, turning to face Bombalurina.

Bombalurina scoffed and fluidly hopped down from the warm metal. "Look at you! You have dirt on your cheeks, your head fur is a mess, and your claws need… work." She led a very confused Rumpleteazer towards her den and added "And you're not only thieving… you're thieving with _Mungojerrie_."

_N_

After a handful of complaints that "He's only my brother!" Bombalurina led Rumpleteazer into her den. She sat Rumpleteazer down on a little pouf and grabbed a brush from her nightstand. She brushed Rumpleteazer's headfur until it shone, and her fringe was swept to the side in an almost American way.

She cleaned, filed, and then cleaned her nails again. Rumpleteazer refused to wear nail polish, as it would only get scraped off in her thieving, but Bombalurina still added a clear coat, to Rumpleteazer's protest.

_N_

After Bombalurina had thoroughly cleaned Rumpleteazer's face, fur and claws, she stood in front of her in a military leader position.

"And now for… makeup." Bombalurina said with a flourish of hands.

Rumpleteazer immediately got up with hands clasped in mid-beg, saying, "Oh, no, don't make me, please…"

Bombalurina forced Rumpleteazer back into a sitting position and opened a large duffle bag, pulling out a case of bright eyeshadow, some liquid eyeliner, mascara and a lipstick pallet. "Now, since the rest of your fur is so bright we're using bright eyeshadow. Normally I would use my neutrals, but you're an exception."

Bombalurina leaned close, putting dark gingery red eyeshadow on Rumpleteazer with the precision of a surgeon. Once that was blended and done, Bombalurina added a sparkly gold powder to the outside corners and closed the case with a snap.

Rumpleteazer shakily opened her eyes. Bombalurina was holding a mascara wand in front of her eyes and instructed, "Blink. Blink. Blink."

Now Bombalurina is looking down at the lipstick pallet (ranging from pinky-white to a deep purple), so Rumpleteazer looks down at it as well, observing a weird but pretty orange-pink color (Bombalurina would have called it _apricot_).

Bombalurina finally decides on a dark pink with gray undertones and looks back up at Rumpleteazer's face, thin lip brush in hand. Rumpleteazer is still looking at the pallet, so Bombalurina gets a good look at Rumpleteazer's freckles, a constellation that could almost spell a small word like _rose_or_eon_.

Rumpleteazer looked up, an uncertain light in her eyes. She realized how close Bombalurina is and inhaled nervously. She can see each of Bombalurina's eyelashes individually, and dark flecks of brown in Bombalurina's hazel eyes.

Suddenly, Bombalurina's lips were on hers and she could feel Bombalurina's nose harshly jutting into Rumpleteazer's cheek.

Rumpleteazer 's eyes were wide, but after a few seconds she squeezed them shut, pulling Bombalurina ever closer.

Then Bombalurina drew away, looked Rumpleteazer squarely in the eye and said, "Never tell anyone."

_N_

Rumpleteazer never tells anyone, but she does return occasionally to Bombalurina's den for more makeup lessons. Sometimes they kiss again, bodies mingling into a mass of tangled orange and red. Most of the time they just use up Bombalurina's makeup, making exaggerated faces in the mirror.

One day Bombalurina even paints freckles on her face, telling Rumpleteazer that she has always admired her constellations. Rumpleteazer of course blushes, and gives Bombalurina a quite chaste kiss on the cheek, tasting the black paint and a bit of the heavy rouge that Bombalurina wears.

_N_

On Christmas morning, Rumpleteazer gives Bombalurina a silver necklace with a star on the chain. She showed Bombalurina that she had one as well, and she said nervously, "When I saw them I thought of you. The Duchess who had them in her vanity will surely miss them." And she giggled sweetly, the snow collecting on her eyelashes and in her headfur.

Rumpleteazer fastened the necklace on Bombalurina's neck and when they brought their heads together, the star magnets _clinked_ together.

That year Bombalurina gives Rumpleteazer an ivory hairbrush, saying "Whenever you use it, I want you to think of me, and everything we had together."

_N_

One slushy February fourteenth, Rumpleteazer came to Bombalurina to talk about love.

"I'm so sorry." She said as Bombalurina took the worn duffle from her nightstand.

Bombalurina sat on the sheetless bed with Rumpleteazer (Jenny had taken the sheets for the weekly wash). "For what? You've been an excellent model and kisser."

Rumpleteazer started to cry, holding her face in her hands. Leftover mascara from yesterday came off with the tears and stained her palms. "Th-there's been a… a complication with our…" She starts, giving a sob and adding, "… relationship."

A tear falls from Bombalurina's eye, splashing on the white mattress cover. She quickly wipes under her eyes with her wrist and whispers, "Oh, damn."

_N_

_Although Bombalurina and Rumpleteazer may grow apart, the necklaces, the hairbrush and even the near-empty makeup cases will remind them of their fleeting and forbidden love, and everything they ever had together. No one, tom, queen, young or old, could ever make either one forget about the other._


End file.
